Patna, February 23 A police team from Andhra Pradesh arrived in Patna on Monday to arrest a senior IPS officer, but the concerned court refused to grant a transit remand, citing "procedural lapses".
According to Bhanu Pratap Singh, SP City (East), Patna, the visiting police team took into custody Sunil Kumar Nayak, an IPS officer from the 2005 batch, who had previously served in Andhra Pradesh on an inter-cadre deputation, early in the morning.
Nayak, who is currently posted here as IG, Fire and Home Guards, "was taken from his official residence around 6 am. The Andhra Pradesh police later contacted us seeking our help in reaching the court to obtain a transit remand," said the SP.
A number of home guard personnel, among whom Nayak was quite popular, created a commotion at the IG's residence, raising objections over the manner in which the IG was taken into custody. They were pacified by Singh, who arrived at the scene with a team of local police.
Singh said, "Before the court, we presented the facts that the Patna Police had not received any prior information about the incident. The court noted that this was a procedural lapse. The court also criticized the Andhra Pradesh police for not carrying the case diary or an arrest warrant and refused to grant a transit remand. Accordingly, the officer has been released. He will not be treated as having been arrested."
Responding to queries from journalists, he said, "It is up to the Andhra Pradesh police to decide what action it will take if it needs the officer in its custody. We have not filed an FIR against them for the wrongful detention of the IG, but we are looking into what action, if any, we may have to take."
Nayak had been named in an FIR lodged in Guntur district in 2024 by Andhra Pradesh Assembly Deputy Speaker and senior leader of the ruling TDP, Raghu Rama Krishna Raju.
Raju had alleged custodial torture in 2021, when he was the MP from Narsapuram, and was arrested by the police in connection with statements he had made against the then Chief Minister and YSR Congress supremo, Jaganmohan Reddy.
In his FIR lodged against several sections of the IPC, including 307 (attempt to murder), Raju had named a number of police officials, including Naik, who was then serving as DIG(CID) in the southern state.